The Cremator

The Cremator (Czech: *Spalovač mrtvol*) is a 1969 Czechoslovak dark comedy horror film directed by Juraj Herz, adapted from a novel by Ladislav Fuks. Herz and Fuks co-wrote the screenplay. It was Czechoslovakia’s submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the 42nd Academy Awards but did not receive a nomination. In 1972, it won Best Film at the Festival de Cine de Sitges, where Rudolf Hrušínský and cinematographer Stanislav Milota also earned awards.

Set in 1930s Prague, the story follows Karel Kopfrkingl, a cremator who begins as an eccentric but decent man. He gradually descends into murdering his own family and committing mass killings, proposing to operate the ovens at extermination camps. His actions are driven by Nazi ideology and Tibetan Buddhist beliefs, as he convinces himself that his murders “liberate” souls into a better existence. The film largely consists of Kopfrkingl’s monologues, tracing his slide into madness. Influenced by German Expressionist cinema, it is frequently cited as a key work of the Czechoslovak New Wave. The film was pulled from circulation in 1973 and remained unseen until 1990, following the collapse of Czechoslovakia’s communist regime in 1989.

Holding a 90.2% score on the Czech and Slovak Movie Database and receiving critical acclaim, *The Cremator* is widely regarded as one of the finest films ever produced in Czechoslovakia. It has also developed a notable cult following.

The plot unfolds against the political radicalization of Europe in the 1930s, particularly the decline of the First Czechoslovak Republic and the establishment of the Nazi-controlled Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia in 1939. It also occurs after the 1933 death of Thubten Gyatso, the 13th Dalai Lama. Kopfrkingl works at a Prague crematorium, which he calls his “Temple of Death.” While taking his family to the zoo—to the leopard cage where he first met his wife seventeen years earlier—he mentions inviting his new assistant, Mr. Strauss, to a gathering.

The gathering includes elderly guests and those interested in funeral arrangements. A teetotaler, Kopfrkingl bans alcohol, serving only tea and “weak coffee,” and extinguishes a guest’s cigar. He tells Strauss he wants him as an agent. His wife Lakmé calls Strauss a good businessman and a Jew; Kopfrkingl insists Strauss is a German name, but Lakmé replies that names can be misleading.